Twist of Fate
by The Exalted
Summary: Two unlikely friends are brought together under the most bizarre circumstances. :: "All in all, I think the lesson I learned was that the strangest things bring the strangest of people together." :: AU, one-shot, rated T for curses, first-person, Soul P.O.V. Official disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater.


_**Author Notes:** Hey guys! I'm back with my first official Soul Eater story. The idea came to me when I was walking home from my bus stop and I saw a boy and a girl in front of me walking together. Of course, they're not a couple but just close friends and this same routine has been happening ever since I was sent to my 'new' bus stop. I was all like '**OMG, that's a great idea!' **because who doesn't like character development? This is in a modern, AU setting... so no kishins and weapons/meisters or anything like that. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this story! BTW, I wrote this a year ago._

* * *

She walks alone.

Generally speaking, it was not an unusual sight to see a student walking home from school but still...

This wasn't the safest part in Death City, especially with those members from the Kishin Gang lurking in the shadows. I was lucky enough not to get mugged when I took shortcuts through the alleyways. Although Lord Death, the headmaster of Shibusen High, as well as the police commissioner for the Death City Police Department (DCPD), managed to keep the crime rates to a record-breaking minimum, there was no way he could exterminate every single one of those dangerous rats.

I looked up to see the said girl wearing a yellow vest with a white shirt under it and plaid skirt as well as combat boots and sporting ashy blonde hair. Just as I looked forward, she turned her head and eyed me weirdly, as if I was some sort of stalker. I almost laughed but kept it down and hid my laughter with a smirk.

"Hey you!" I pointed towards myself, standing still as she faced me, "yeah, you! Are you following me or something?" Obviously, she had noticed that we have been taking the same route to our homes for the last two weeks, except she hadn't realized that I attended the same school as she and that I wasn't interested in uncool activities like 'stalking', among others. I bit the inside of my cheek to prevent myself from keeling over. This girl was just too cute, puffing out her cheeks like that.

"Relax. I'm not following you. I just happen to take the same route as you. My home is just a few blocks down, has been for the last two weeks. 'Sides, I'm too cool for stalking," I gave a sharp-toothed grin, wanting to ease her nerves, although it seemed to do the opposite, judging by the way her face reddened.

The girl turned away and jogged the rest of the way home, with me chuckling at the fact she _still_ didn't realize we lived in the same apartment building. It was sort of odd, living by yourself after so many years of living in a mansion with your family, but I enjoyed it. More time to myself and no pestering parents. The fact they rarely called me was a bonus.

* * *

Although I could've easily gotten her name by asking her or asking around, I figured it would be totally uncool if someone thought I had a crush on a flat chested girl like her. One month into our initial 'meeting', I found out what her name was when I walked into school and glanced at the Student of the Month board. Her name along with her picture (which is what I used to identify her) was listed among many others on the rectangular board. It turns out she had won two awards instead of the usual one award and many people were whispering and muttering about how that's never happened before or about how the girl's a freaking genius. This one kid with weird lightning bolt hair and bald head was boiling mad when he found out he had only received one award. Truth is, it was incredibly hard to get your name up or to even be noticed. The school bordered nearly three-thousand people and each class had an average of about fifty students. For someone to get _two_ awards in a four-course semester*... well, you'd have to be beyond smart and organized.

* * *

I was walking home again, really wishing I could get my bike fixed so I could ride it to school instead. And when I say 'bike' I mean 'motorcycle'. The damn mechanic was taking his sweet time getting it fixed, probably riding it when he wasn't working*. I looked ahead to see Maka walking home once more. However, instead of walking alone, Maka seemed to be walking with some other guy... that guy being Death the Kidd, son of the headmaster of Shibusen High and the chief of DCPD. They were chatting lightly and were leaning towards the other just the tiniest but as they trudged, and I couldn't help but feel slightly jealous. I don't know why, I mean, I don't even know the chick that well but, being a musician, my emotions were always hard to keep locked.

Maybe... maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to get to know her a bit better.

As I thought this, I could've sworn that cocky rumored-to-be-a-neat-freak asshole had flicked his eyes to me and smirked knowingly.

* * *

I decided to stay after school today because I had a sudden inspiration and I knew I would forget the notes as soon as I got home. My feet led me to the music room more out of sheer body memory than actual memory. It's kinda weird how my body knows exactly what turns to take and the amount of steps but I guess when you've gone there for as much as I have, it just comes to you.

I dropped my bag at beside the stool, and after making sure no one was watching, I closed the door, leaving only a crack open. I texted Black Star, telling him I would be late for our usual hang-outs. I didn't tell him why; Black Star knew I played yet never showed interest so we never talked about it.

Grabbing the blank music sheets available and a pen, I sat at one of the desks and jotted down the key and tempo. My foot tapped with the beat, and I adjusted the notes according to the tempo every once in a while. When the music teacher came in, he nodded at me and entered one of the soundproof rooms, grabbing an alto sax and a composition book on his way. It was half an hour before I ran out of ideas and decided to play it, adding a little improv to give it a jazz feel. I sat on the stool and closed my eyes, touching the piano keys with the tips of my fingers before pressing down gently.

It was slow in the beginning, a sad melody about a lonely boy. But then it sped up, signifying a rage born within the boy. My notes were wild, untamed and to some, plain scary. When the music teacher came out, he looked over my shoulder and nodded once more, playing random tunes on his sax that complimented my playing. My hands trailed back and forth on the keys, hitting the lows and highs, making sure to hit the right notes. When something didn't sound right, I stopped and tried different notes to capture the feeling I was trying to create, the teacher throwing suggestions as he packed his sax and suitcase.

"Try a B flat."

"Hmm... maybe an A would fit better."

"Ah.. I see you've chosen to insert a D in that particular measure. Try a D sharp instead; see how it sounds."

It wasn't finished yet, but it was a start. The teacher had left long ago and it was just me in here. I heard the door creak and I whipped my head around, finding the door ajar with no one there.

I scowled. _'Someone heard me play!'_

__I sighed. How _uncool_.

* * *

Even though my motorcycle was in top condition after the little wreck with my best friend, Black Star, I continued walking home, opting to reserve my bike for late outings with my friends since gas was kinda hard to pay for nowadays, even with my piano tutoring lessons I offered during the week-ends (when the sun was still up, of course).

Maka was still walking ahead of me with her nose held high, since she apparently had scored the highest in all her classes _again_. Geez, it's like nothing was hard for her... with the exception of basket-ball since her lay-ups were downright horrible and she always missed her penalty shots.

I scratched the back of my neck slightly as I tried to think up a way to approach her. As I was pondering different insults and compliments, I failed to notice the two men wearing black clothes and ski masks jumping Maka.

"DAMN IT! HELP!" A shriek from in front of me made me snap my head to the front as I saw the two men pulling at Maka. She punched, snarled, kicked and bit her aggressors, and while I was slightly impressed, I ran over there and punched one of the guys to give her some room.

The minute I interfered, I knew it was going to get nasty as another guy popped out from one of the alleys and punched my face. I stumbled back, my nose bleeding as I narrowed my crimson eyes. The other guy holding Maka screamed as he clenched his crotch firmly and Maka ran to me, determined on backing me up despite my inaudible protests.

"You should leave and get help," I whispered worriedly.

"No way. You helped me, and I'm staying here 'til we kick their asses," Maka held firm in her decision as she slipped into a boxing stance, bouncing a little.

Emptying the remaining blood from my nose, I wiped it on my sleeve and smirked cockily as I spared a glance at the men around us. Three on two would be tough, especially since they were bigger than us, but then again, I always loved a good fight. It's at times like these when brute force overcame any other strategy.

"Hey, punk, why dontcha give us the chick and run back home! And give us your cash while you're at it, else you might not live to see another day," one of the men arrogantly threatened.

I scoffed. "Like you fat asses can even run."

"Careful, you idiot, we don't want to provoke them," Maka warned me.

I rolled my eyes. Obviously, she didn't know who she was talking to, since me and Black Star have gotten into more fist fights than she'd like to know. Not to mention that my best friend's arrogance and stupid mouth always got us into situations in which we were seriously outnumbered and outmatched. However, whether it was by some blessing of a God, skill, sheer luck, or a combination of the three, we always came through with fractured bones at most.

The three cowards decided it would be a good time to rush us, thinking we were distracted. One, I assumed the leader, stayed back to observe the fight as the other two took me and Maka on respectively. I punched the guy in his gut before receiving a punch to my face as we both stumbled back a bit, him trying to regain his breath as I ran towards him again, roundhouse kicking his face as he fell to the ground, clutching his now-bruised eye. Not wanting to leave loose-ends, I lifted my fist and punched his temple, effectively knocking him out. I turned around to check on Maka and saw she was doing well, blocking the guy's punches and throwing one in whenever there was an opening. She had great stamina since she was still breathing normally, while the other guy had trouble evening his breath and attacking at the same time.

It was a good thing I had keen eyes since I spotted the leader creeping up on Maka with a pocketknife in hand, open and ready to slice. I immediately left the bastard on the ground as I shouted out a warning to Maka, suddenly regretting it as she faltered and took a hit to the eye. I ran towards her, watching her stand up and clutch the guy's collar, headbutting him into sweet unconsciousness. Man, she was tough!

She stumbled back and I grabbed her, steadying her. I had this weird feeling I was forgetting something.

"Move, brat. This girl's our key to luxury," the leader spoke, sharp metal glinting in his hand. I bit back a curse, turning around to face the man. He had a crazy grin on his face and his hands kept twitching. Maka gripped the back of my jacket, obviously frightened. "Leave, idiot. This has nothing to do with you.." she muttered into my ear.

"Aren't you the one who asked for help? Ugh, why are girls so damn confusing?" I snapped at her through clenched teeth.

"Alright, enough with the chit-chat. Hand over the girl and we can all go home happy. Well, except for her, anyway.."

"Fuck you!" I yelled at him, smirking at his angered face.

"AHHH!"

He ran to me and I pushed Maka down, barely able to brace myself as the knife came down and carved a line from my left collarbone all the way down to my right hip, blood immediately spurting out of the rather deep wound. Immense pain wracked my body as I yelled in agony before passing out, the last vision I saw was the leader lying on the floor unconscious and Maka's bruised face urging me to stay with her.

* * *

It's been eight months since that incident and I had recovered nicely, even though I still had a scar on my chest. Black Star had been on his way to visit me and had arrived just in time to deliver the finishing blow to the bastard. The three members were locked up and were sentenced to prison for life, the charges being attempted kidnapping, attempted murder, assault, and many other things they had gotten away with before being captured (including murder). They had wanted to capture Maka, whose father was Spirit, Lord Death's second-in-command at the DCPD. The man had been on their trail (_their _being the _Kishin Gang_) for weeks and was close to exposing them. Which they were now, thanks to the rather forced information the criminals had spilled. The remaining members were either killed, captured or in hiding since their leader, Asura, had committed suicide from fear of being caught.

Maka and I now travel by motorcycle to and from school since we were very close. Sometimes, when we went to the beach or the pool for a swim, her eyes would linger on the scar now permanently adorning my chest, regret flashing in her eyes as she blamed herself. Whenever that happened, I would bop her head like she would sometimes do to me (lightly though, so as to not provoke her wrath) and tell her not to worry. I would tell her that I don't regret anything, since it was thanks to that little mishap that we were such close friends now, and that I would do it all over again if it meant saving her life (of course, I said it in a cool way so I didn't look cheesy). Then she would smile, kiss my cheek and hold my hand tightly.

All in all, I think the lesson I learned was that the strangest things bring the strangest of people together.

...

And yes, I did finish my song.

With Maka's help.

* * *

_**Story notes:**_

*In Canada, where I live, the high schools in my district offer eights courses per year, four per semester with each class lasting 75 minutes. It's freaking hell at times, but I think it's totally worth it. Especially when you take the music courses! =D

*Virtual cookies for you if you tell me the movie reference!


End file.
